1 · Account on a page
Where the deal is, and what happens next.
40.0
Account score, Warming tier
3 of 25
Milestones verified at Day 0
465
Days since the last stage change
$2.15B
Annual TTV potential at a 2% share of checkout
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Account | Target Corporation (SFDC account 0012E000023hMcF) |
| Account owner | Chad Johnson, about 1.5 months on the account (previously Peter Maher, then Anne Coffey) AO |
| Opportunity | The 2024 opportunity stays open for now; Chad is checking whether to keep it or replace it. Old record: $119.9M revenue in year; $2.15B annual TTV potential at a 2% share of checkout SFDC |
| Account score | 40.0, Warming tier. Highest of the 10 pilot accounts at Day 0 ABM |
| Decision path | Matthew Goldberg (VP and Assistant Treasurer) recommends; his recommendations are almost always approved. Pam Tomczik (SVP, Treasurer) approves. Winston Wood and Emily Carling (Payment Acceptance) are champions AO |
| Why now | Goldberg asked for data on alternative payment methods. After Carling and Wood presented, he asked: “Why don’t we have all BNPLs on our site today?” AO |
| Biggest objections | Target Circle Card cannibalization; integration effort; fraud, given Target’s experience with Sezzle AO |
| Top plays | Exec meeting prep for Chad (deck, talk track, ghost intro email) · Pre-meeting awareness for Pam Tomczik and Matthew Goldberg · Personalized microsite on Circle Card and integration · Zip’s own Target guest data as the proof |
| Leading indicators | Exec meeting held and follow-up agreed · Buying committee coverage · Deal Progress Index and Account Velocity Score, monthly ABM |
| Asks of sales leadership | An executive sponsor for the November meeting and the intro email (Peter/Vaneet); a weekly 30-minute sync with Chad |
Source tags: SFDC Salesforce · SDR Memory Blue × Zip SDR Playbook · ABM ABM Pilot scoring, KPIs and attribution deck (V2) · HIVE Zip pipeline stage rubric · MKTG Zip marketing materials · RES public research · AO account owner interview (Chad Johnson, Oct 22). Shaded items are still open.
1 · Latest from Chad and the milestone ladder
What changed on Oct 22, and where Target sits on the ladder.
What we learned from Chad (Oct 22) AO
The call answered most of the open questions and moved the timeline up to November.
- Decision path. Goldberg recommends and Tomczik approves. Wood and Carling are champions, and Wood confirmed BNPL discussions are heating up.
- Internal trigger. Goldberg asked for data on alternative payment methods; after Carling and Wood presented, he asked why Target doesn’t have all BNPLs on its site.
- Sezzle. Target shut down Sezzle about three years ago after low conversion, high fraud and fee (MDR) increases, even though it was doing about $660M in TTV. Zip’s TTV at Target today is about $230M. Confirm what the $230M covers, e.g., Zip app virtual card spend at Target
- Integration. Target’s move to Stripe OCS is stalled on internal security reviews, which makes a direct Zip integration more viable. Affirm runs through a low-code virtual card integration.
- Account history. Peter Maher, then Anne Coffey owned the account with limited contacts; Chad took over about 1.5 months ago. The 2024 opportunity came from a hospitality event; Chad is checking how to handle it and won’t close it yet.
- Exec meeting. Chad plans to schedule it for the second or third week of November.
- Ideas from Chad. Pair Zip’s Target guest data with Target’s third-party guest study; offer Zip as a free benefit to Target employees (Peter’s idea), backed by Plaid data on their current usage (needs Zip legal sign-off before use).
- What Chad asked for. Exec meeting content (presentation and talk track), awareness campaigns for Tomczik and Goldberg, a personalized microsite, and direct mail. Chad owns the ghost intro email from Peter/Vaneet to Tomczik and Goldberg, with our support if needed.
Milestone ladder: where Target stands HIVE
The velocity score tracks progress through Zip’s 22 Hive actions plus three early milestones (two-way conversation, first meeting, opportunity open), so movement shows even while the Salesforce stage stays at Discovery. A milestone counts once a dated email, call note, transcript or Salesforce activity backs it up, in any order.
| # | Milestone | Done when | Status | Evidence and date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Two-way conversation | A buying-committee contact replied, took a call, or met | Verified | Retail Club meeting and 5 contacts active in the last 45 days (Day 0 score, Oct 2026). Activity logged with Carling (Oct 15) and Wood (Oct 20) |
| 2 | First meeting held | A scheduled meeting with Target took place | Verified | Meeting Mar 7, 2025 (opportunity field history) |
| 3 | Opportunity open | Discovery opp exists with an owner | Verified | Created Jun 25, 2024; owner Chad Johnson |
| 4 | Identify pain | At least 1 pain point with root cause, business impact, why now | Open | Chad |
| 5 | Metrics | At least 1 metric defined (AOV lift, cart recovery, approval rate) | Open | Chad |
| 6 | Champion | Advocate meets at least 2 of Hive’s 5 champion behaviors | In progress | Wood and Carling named as champions; they presented BNPL internally (Chad, Oct 22). Needs a dated Target-side artifact |
| 7 | Economic buyer | Named, with evidence of role from calls or transcripts | In progress | Pam Tomczik approves (Chad, Oct 22). Needs a dated Target-side artifact; the November meeting can provide it |
| 8 | Decision criteria | At least 2 key decision factors identified | In progress | Likely factors: Circle Card cannibalization, ease of integration, cost and fees (MDR), fraud. Confirm with Target |
| 9 | Decision process and timeline | Steps, people and timing from evaluation to go-live documented | In progress | Partial: Goldberg recommends, Tomczik approves (Chad, Oct 22). Timeline to go-live still unknown |
| 10 | Technical lead confirmed | Target’s integration lead named and introduced | Open | Chad |
| 11 | Discovery summary sent | Written scope summary, no pricing, shared with Target | Open | Chad. The Mar 2025 proposal may qualify if it went out |
Day 0: 3 of 25 milestones verified, the three early ones. Every Discovery milestone Chad can back with a dated artifact moves Target forward, and the index rolls up at the account level from the most advanced opportunity. After Discovery come Initial Scope (4 milestones: scope confirmation, timeline re-confirmed, stakeholders introduced, commercial offer built), Proposal (4), Contracting (1), Closed Won (2), Integration (2) and Launched (1).
2 · The risk case
The risk case: why this deal needs the pilot.
Target has been in Discovery for 465 days. The longest Discovery stage on any deal Zip has launched was 300 days.
How Target compares with Zip’s recent wins and losses SFDC
Zip has closed 276 sales opportunities with close dates in 2025 and 2026 (report run Oct 19, 2026): 49 launched and 227 lost (44 of the losses were closed for data cleanup).
| Measure | Zip’s closed deals | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Time from created to close, launched deals | Median 90 days; longest 548 days | 847 days old and still open |
| Time in Discovery, launched deals (21 with a Discovery record) | Median 50 days before moving on; longest 300. Enterprise launches took 16 to 178 days | 465 days since the last stage change |
| Time in Discovery, lost deals that never left it (119) | Median 232 days before being closed lost; 18 sat 465 days or more | |
| Stage when lost | 84 of 230 lost deals were lost from Discovery; for enterprise, 42 of 97 | In Discovery |
| Large launched deals ($10M+ annual TTV, 9 deals) | 77 to 548 days from created to close; median 175 | Annual TTV potential $2.15B |
| Enterprise tier | 6 launched, 95 lost | Enterprise |
| Big box deals | No wins. 3 lost: 2 unresponsive, 1 on timing | |
| Affirm named as competitor | 14 deals, all lost | Affirm |
| Zip pitched as primary provider | 4 launched, 19 lost | “Primary Provider” |
| Stripe as partner | 4 launched (1 enterprise), 13 lost | Stripe referral |
| Contact role on launched deals | Of 15 launches with a titled contact role, 2 named a payments leader (the same person at two related merchants). The rest named digital, ecommerce, finance or executive leaders | All 3 contact roles in payments and treasury |
| Long-term rate | Launched median 2.9% (1.7% to 6.25%, 33 deals); lost median 2.5% | 2.00% |
| AOV | Launched median $125 (22 deals) | $101 |
| In-store virtual checkout launches | One retailer’s three in-store banners launched in 77 to 112 days; another in-store launch took 475 days | Already scoped as virtual checkout; opportunity split 80% in store |
- What it suggests. Target has spent longer in Discovery than any recent win (465 days vs. a 300-day maximum), and longer than most deals that were eventually lost there. It also matches several profiles that usually lose: enterprise tier, Affirm as the competitor, and Zip as primary provider. Price looks less likely to be the blocker, since Target’s 2.00% rate is below what launched deals pay. That points the plan at the business case and access to decision makers.
- One option to raise with Chad. Zip’s fastest large launches were in-store virtual checkout. With the opportunity assuming 80% of volume in store, an in-store launch might move without waiting on the online Stripe decision. Hypothesis; confirm with Chad
- Limits. Contact roles are used sparingly (22 of 49 launches have one, nearly always a single “Decision Maker”), so the buying-group comparison is directional. Zip renamed its stages during this period, so older deals use legacy names (Evaluation, First Meeting, and so on), grouped here with Discovery. 28 of 49 launches have no Discovery-stage record, so the Discovery timing rests on 21 deals. Competitor, partner and AOV are filled on a minority of deals, and 8 launched deals show a created date after the close date.
Stall diagnosis
- What the data suggests SFDC. Momentum peaked in spring 2025, when a meeting led to a formal proposal. In April 2025 Target began re-evaluating Stripe as the integration path, with a decision expected by June. The record has no seller update since then, and the deal changed owners in July 2026. All three contact roles sit in payments and treasury; no executive, digital or IT contact is attached. An Aug 13 send reached 62 digital, executive and IT records; worth asking Alyson whether anyone replied.
- Likely stall reasons ABM. The record points to the first two; confirm with Chad.
- IT deprioritized or integration unresolved. Play: integration effort estimate built on the Stripe path, technical content, platform partner co-marketing
- Champion gone or relationship reset after the owner change. Play: multi-thread through matched-audience paid media, exec-to-exec outreach, and direct mail to new stakeholders
- Business case unproven. Play: custom value model plus a checkout audit of target.com
- Incumbent provider (Affirm). Play: work back from the renewal date and lead with coexistence
- Timing and budget. Play: the pilot starts after the holiday freeze, in January
- No decision. Play: sales re-qualifies before marketing spends
- What the account owner says AO. The account changed hands twice with limited contacts, and Target’s Stripe OCS move stalled on security reviews. Interest is now building inside treasury, led by Goldberg’s question about offering all BNPLs (Oct 22).
- What it needs to move. A strong November meeting with Tomczik and Goldberg, credible answers to the three objections (Circle Card, integration, fraud), and a clear integration path.
- Prior marketing at Target MKTG AO. MAG 2024 sourced the opportunity.
3 · Why Target, why Zip, why now
The case, with a source on every claim.
Target’s stated priorities RES
Target’s 2026 growth strategy (Mar 3, 2026) commits about $2 billion in incremental investment and guides to roughly 2% net sales growth for the year.
| Priority | Evidence | Where Zip fits SDR |
|---|---|---|
| Elevate the guest experience | Investment in digital discovery, in-store experience, loyalty and engagement; scaling Target Circle 360 | Payment Experience: flexible payment messaging on product, category and cart pages, and in store |
| Accelerate technology | More spending on technology and AI for discovery and personalization | API integration lets Target control how and where flexible payments appear |
| Grow sales | 2026 outlook of about 2% net sales growth, including a small comparable sales increase | Customer access: 100M+ financially responsible consumers often underserved by traditional credit |
| Lead with merchandising authority | Differentiated assortments that win on style, design and value | Pay in 2 for everyday baskets; Pay in 4 and 8 for higher-consideration items |
Why now RES AO
- Internal trigger AO. Goldberg asked for data on alternative payment methods. After Carling and Wood presented, he asked, “Why don’t we have all BNPLs on our site today?” (Chad, Oct 22). This is the strongest reason to act now.
- Recent triggers RES. Michael Fiddelke became CEO in February 2026. On Feb 10, Target reshaped its executive team: Cara Sylvester moved from chief guest experience officer to chief merchandising officer, Lisa Roath became COO, and Rick Gomez (chief commercial officer) is leaving. On Sep 14, 2026, Target named Mark Weinstein, previously Hilton’s global CMO, chief marketing and guest experience officer, reporting to the CEO. His scope covers the Target brand, guest experience, the Roundel retail media network and the Target+ marketplace. Each counts as a trigger event in the account score (+8) ABM.
- Timing. The retail holiday freeze runs through year end. The pilot deck’s timing play is to warm the committee in Q4 and push in January and February ABM. Confirm Target’s budget cycle with Chad
- Current pay-later setup RES. Target added Affirm and Sezzle in October 2021: Affirm online for purchases over $100, Sezzle through its virtual card online, in the app, and for drive-up and same-day orders. The Target opportunity lists Affirm as the competitor SFDC. Chad confirmed Target shut Sezzle down about three years ago after low conversion, high fraud and fee increases. Confirm Affirm’s renewal date
Zip’s angle SDR MKTG
- Value proposition for Target (adapted from the playbook elevator pitch). Target is likely losing high-intent shoppers at the point of purchase because of payment friction or limited payment choice. Zip helps turn those missed sales into incremental growth by giving guests more flexibility in how they pay.
- What Zip adds next to Affirm and Sezzle. The playbook positions Affirm for prime and near-prime shoppers making larger purchases, and Sezzle for small-to-mid ecommerce merchants. Zip’s base skews toward debit-first, younger, new-to-credit and budget-conscious shoppers (ages 25 to 44, 90%+ employed). It also offers decline recovery, cart abandonment recovery, in-store payments, and the Zip app as an acquisition channel.
- Fit checks. Big box retail is a Tier 1 vertical. Target clears the $1B+ US GMV bar, and its AOV on the opportunity is $101, under the $500 cap SFDC. Stripe is the partner on the deal, which the playbook treats as a positive buying signal. The opportunity assumes 80% of volume in store, so in-store proof matters most.
Proof points
All proof points below are public on zip.co. Confirm with Alyson which ones Zip wants used in outreach
| Proof point | Why it fits Target | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GameStop: 196% increase in BNPL transaction volume | In-store rollout across nearly 2,800 stores in Nov 2024 with a no-integration approach; online orders at 2x the sitewide AOV; 61% of online orders (Apr to mid-Jun 2025) from customers legacy credit tools tend to underestimate. Large in-store footprint and fast store launch, matching the opportunity’s 80% in-store split | GameStop case study, Sep 2025 |
| Follett: 18% AOV increase year over year | Zip embedded online and in store across 1,000+ campus bookstores. Omnichannel retail | Zip retail page |
| 45% of customers say they wouldn’t have purchased without flexible payments | Supports the incremental-customer argument for finance | Zip customer survey, Apr 2026 (retail page) |
| 55% of merchants go live within one month | Answers integration-effort concerns | Zip data, 12 months to Jun 2025 (retail page) |
| 20% increase in conversions; 46% average AOV increase across Zip merchants | Digital and marketing personas | Retail KPIs article, internal data Feb 2025 and May 2024 |
| Sporting goods merchant: 10% conversion lift after adding the payment widget | Supports Payment Experience placements on target.com | Same article, Nov 2023 data |
| 99.9% uptime, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday | Technology persona; peak-season reliability | Same article, Nov 2024 data |
| Retail logos: GameStop, Fanatics, Famous Footwear, JD Sports, Mercari | Big box and national retail peers | Retail page |
| 100M+ financially responsible consumers often underserved by traditional financial systems | Customer access story | SDR playbook |
4 · Buying group map
Who decides, who influences, and where Zip has no relationship yet.
Roles still to source Apollo
The map covers payments well but misses roles that matter specifically at Target: the store card team, store technology (the opportunity assumes 80% of volume in store), the checkout product owners, and Mark Weinstein’s new organization.
| Role | Why it matters at Target | Titles to search | Already in Salesforce (verify first) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target Financial and Retail Services / Target Circle Card | Owns Target’s store card; Circle Card cannibalization is a named objection (Chad, Oct 22), so this team is a likely influencer or blocker | President, SVP or VP, Target Financial and Retail Services; Financial Products; Circle Card | Ronald Prill and Terrence Scull (both listed as president; conflicting); Jeanie Schumacher, Product Director, Circle Card |
| Checkout and digital payments product | Owns where payment options appear on target.com and the app (Payment Experience) | VP or Sr Director, Product: Checkout, Guest Checkout, Digital Payments; Payments Engineering | Kunal Banerjee; Jon Bergh; Srini Junnuru, Sr Director, Technology Digital Product Engineering |
| Store technology and point of sale | The opportunity assumes 80% of volume in store; an in-store launch runs through POS | VP or Sr Director, Store Technology, Point of Sale, Store Systems | Carrie Moreno (Sr PM level only) |
| Store operations leadership | In-store rollout needs operations buy-in under COO Lisa Roath | SVP or VP, Stores, Store Operations, Store Experience | Mary Puder, VP, Store Experience Marketing |
| Mark Weinstein’s organization | New leader for marketing, guest experience, Roundel and Target+; Roundel is a natural co-marketing channel | VP, Roundel; Target+ marketplace; Guest Experience; Brand Marketing | Tara Russell, VP, Guest Experience Strategy and Operations |
| Treasury | Pam Tomczik is the final approver (Chad, Oct 22); map who else sits around her | SVP, Treasurer | Pam Tomczik, SVP, Treasurer and Corporate Development |
| Payments legal and compliance | BNPL is regulated consumer lending; counsel reviews any provider | Counsel, Payments; Compliance, Financial Services | Sara Lohrman, Director Counsel, Payments (touched Sep 24) |
| Sourcing for payments and technology | Runs vendor selection and contracting | Sourcing or Procurement: Technology, Financial Services, Indirect | Anthony Nguyen, Strategy VP, Procurement |
| Finance for digital and FP&A | Validates the incremental revenue case | SVP or VP, FP&A; Finance, Digital | Tim Smith, SVP, FP&A; Corey Haaland, SVP, Finance (lead) |
- Outside Target. The Stripe account team that referred the deal, through Zip’s Stripe partner manager. They are a likely ally on the integration question.
- Search tips. Filter to target.com, Minneapolis HQ, Director and above. Exclude store-level titles such as Executive Team Leader and Store Director, which data vendors often tag as executives at Target. Check every name against LinkedIn or Target’s newsroom before loading, and tag the persona on import.
Roles follow the pilot’s scored personas, with coverage points in brackets ABM. Names come from Salesforce.
Decision path (Chad, Oct 22). Matthew Goldberg (VP and Assistant Treasurer) recommends, and his recommendations are almost always approved. Pam Tomczik (SVP, Treasurer and Corporate Development) gives final approval. Winston Wood and Emily Carling (Payment Acceptance) are the champions. The decision sits in treasury and payments; the other roles below are influencers or sources of objections.
Personas and candidates SFDC
| Role (points) | Best candidates in Salesforce | How they came in | Last activity (direction unknown) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive / economic buyer (+9) | Prat Vemana, EVP and Chief Information and Product Officer · Jim Lee, EVP and CFO · Sarah Travis, Chief Digital and Revenue Officer · Mark Weinstein, Chief Marketing and Guest Experience Officer since Sep 14, 2026 (not yet in Salesforce) | Vemana 2023, no source · Lee sits in the Disqualified Leads queue · Travis LinkedIn, Jun 2026 | Vemana Aug 13 (bulk) · Lee Jul 14 · Travis Aug 6 |
| Ecommerce / digital / marketing / growth (+7) | Ryan Butz, VP and GM, Target Circle Loyalty · Berit Bauer, VP, Digital Site Merchandising and Operations · Thomas Lewis, VP, Digital · Arianna Gavzy, VP, Revenue Strategy and Enablement, Digital | All from a data vendor import | Butz, Bauer, Gavzy Aug 13 (bulk) · Lewis Jul 14 |
| Payments / finance (+6) | Rebecca Lobsinger, VP, Payments and Financial Operations · Kimberly Sutch, Sr Director, Financial Products and Service Enablement · Emily Carling, Director, Payment Acceptance; Matthew Goldberg, VP and Assistant Treasurer; Winston Wood, Sr Manager, Payment Acceptance (the opportunity’s three contact roles, all tagged Decision Maker) · Perry Starr, Director, Payment Acceptance | Lobsinger outbound, Sutch event (both Jul 2025) · Starr and Carling event (2020) · Goldberg data vendor import | Wood Oct 20 · Carling Oct 15 · Lobsinger Sep 24 · Goldberg Aug 13 (bulk) · Starr Sep 2024 · Sutch none |
| Product (+5) | Kunal Banerjee, eCommerce Sr Director, Product Management · Jon Bergh, Sr PM, Digital Payments Services · Carrie Moreno, Sr PM, Payment Acceptance and POS | Banerjee Jan 2026 · Bergh event Sep 2026 · Moreno event Jul 2026 | Moreno Sep 23 · Banerjee, Bergh none |
| IT (+3) | Arun Kalyanaraman, VP, Technology, Core Commerce and Platforms · Vikas Choudhry, VP, Engineering, Digital · Keri Stelle, VP, Target Technology | Stelle LinkedIn, Jun 2026; others data vendor import | All three Aug 13 (bulk) |
| Procurement (not scored) | Anthony Nguyen, Strategy VP, Procurement | Data vendor lead | None |
| Risk and fraud (not scored) | Brad Mares, Sr Manager, Fraud Strategy and Analytics | Outbound lead | Aug 2019 |
| Champion | Chad to name | AO | AO |
Relationship strength for each persona is still to be filled in with Chad.
- Coverage. The decision group is known and two champions are active. Payments is the only persona with individual, recent activity (Wood Oct 20, Carling Oct 15, Lobsinger Sep 24).
- Biggest gap. Pam Tomczik, the final approver, has no direct relationship with Zip yet, and Goldberg needs to see Zip as the right addition. The November exec meeting is built around both of them.
- Second gap. The Target Circle Card team (Target Financial and Retail Services). Cannibalization is a named objection, so their view matters even though they don’t approve.
- Who to reach first. Tomczik and Goldberg, through the ghost intro email from Peter/Vaneet and pre-meeting awareness. Wood and Carling get a champion kit they can share internally.
Contact base at a glance SFDC
| Persona | Contacts | Leads |
|---|---|---|
| Executive / economic buyer | 38 | 37 |
| Ecommerce / digital / marketing / growth | 69 | 99 |
| Payments / finance | 31 | 255 |
| Product | 9 | 9 |
| IT | 13 | 1 |
| Unassigned | 82 | 188 |
| Total | 242 | 589 |
After removing duplicate emails, that is 809 people. A data vendor import is the source for 191 contacts and 559 leads, so most records have never engaged with Zip.
5 · Messaging by persona
Approved language, so sales can use it today.
Messages come from the SDR playbook, so this page needs no new review cycle. Anything that needs approval is flagged.
| Persona | What they care about SDR | Approved message SDR | Proof point MKTG | Call to action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive (Vemana, Lee) | Revenue growth, market share, customer experience, long-term strategy | “Many retail leaders are evaluating how customer expectations around payments are changing.” | GameStop: 196% BNPL volume growth, rolled out across nearly 2,800 stores | Exec-to-exec meeting on growth from guests the current payment mix misses |
| Digital and loyalty (Butz, Bauer, Lewis) | Conversion, cart abandonment, AOV, acquisition cost | “Many retailers we speak with are looking for ways to improve conversion without significantly increasing acquisition spend.” | 20% conversion increase across Zip merchants; 10% lift from the payment widget at a sporting goods merchant | Checkout and Payment Experience audit of target.com |
| Finance (Lee, Goldberg) | Profitability, ROI, evidence over promises | “Many finance leaders are evaluating whether payments can contribute more directly to growth.” | 45% of customers wouldn’t have purchased without flexible payments; 46% average AOV increase | 20-minute walkthrough of an incremental revenue model built for Target |
| Payments (Lobsinger, Sutch, payment acceptance team) | Payment acceptance, coverage gaps, approval rates | “If there’s a meaningful segment of shoppers hitting your checkout who don’t have a payment option that works for them, how would you know today?” | 61% of GameStop’s online orders came from customers legacy credit tools tend to underestimate | Coverage-gap sizing: approval rates and declines on current BNPL |
| Technology (Kalyanaraman, Choudhry, Stelle) | Reliability, security, ease of implementation | “Many operations teams are looking to simplify payment experiences without creating additional complexity.” | GameStop’s no-integration in-store launch; 55% of merchants live within a month; 99.9% uptime | Integration effort estimate across online, app and in-store |
- Expect “we already offer BNPL” (Affirm). Approved response: “That makes sense. Most of the merchants we speak with already offer some form of BNPL. What I’m curious about is how you’re measuring success today. Are you primarily focused on customer acquisition, conversion, or overall revenue impact?” SDR
- Language rules SDR. Position Zip as an alternative payment method that sits alongside Target’s processor, and frame payments as a growth lever. Report channel metrics such as CTR internally only; externally, describe reach and movement in the buying committee ABM.
- Target-specific tailoring. Tie Payment Experience to Target Circle 360 and the 2026 push on digital discovery. In store, lead with omnichannel consistency. Add a Target data point once marketing confirms one
6 · Coordinated plays and marketing plan
Three tracks, built around the November meeting.
Track 1 is Chad’s direct ask: get the November exec meeting with Pam Tomczik and Matthew Goldberg right. Track 2 is a picklist for Alyson of digital and top-of-funnel options, to choose from based on budget and creative resources. Track 3 sequences everything across the pilot.
Track 1: Sales enablement for Chad’s exec meeting
Chad owns the meeting. Each deliverable below is tied to a milestone on the ladder, so we agree what success looks like before the meeting happens.
Chad plans the meeting for the second or third week of November. Target dates below assume the week of Nov 9; move each one a week later if it lands the week of Nov 16.
| # | Deliverable | Purpose | Owner | Target date | Milestone it moves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghost intro email from Peter/Vaneet to Tomczik and Goldberg | Executive-level door opener for the meeting | Chad drafts; Peter/Vaneet send | Draft by Oct 26 | #7 Economic buyer |
| 2 | Data pack: Zip’s Target guest data, compared with Target’s third-party guest study | The proof the meeting rests on | Zip (Chad, Alyson) provides; Rita and Mark analyze | Data by Oct 28 | #4 Identify pain, #5 Metrics |
| 3 | Exec presentation and talk track | Leads with Goldberg’s question and answers the three objections | Rita, with Chad | Draft Oct 30; final and rehearsal Nov 5 | #7 Economic buyer, #8 Decision criteria |
| 4 | Objection answers built into the deck | Circle Card: Zip is incremental for guests who don’t qualify for or prefer not to use the card. Integration: low-code virtual card, the way Affirm runs today. Fraud: Zip’s fraud controls and fraud-rate data | Rita; Zip supplies the fraud and conversion data | With the deck | #8 Decision criteria |
| 5 | Champion kit for Wood and Carling | A short internal version of the story they can share before the meeting | Rita | Oct 30 | #6 Champion |
| 6 | Pre-meeting awareness campaign (Track 2, options A to C) | Tomczik and Goldberg see Zip before they meet Zip | Alyson and Rita | Live by Oct 28 | #7 Economic buyer |
| 7 | Direct mail to Tomczik and Goldberg | High-touch moment the week before | Alyson and Rita | Lands Nov 2 to 4 | #7 Economic buyer |
| 8 | Personalized Target microsite: Circle Card and integration | Follow-up asset that keeps working after the meeting | Rita, with Chris | Live by Nov 6 | #10 Technical lead confirmed |
| 9 | Post-meeting follow-up: recap, microsite link, proposed next step (integration call) | Turns the meeting into milestones | Chad, with Rita | Within 2 business days | #9 Decision process and timeline, #10 Technical lead, #11 Discovery summary |
Held: Plaid data on Target employee usage needs Zip legal sign-off before it can be used. Not scheduled until cleared.
If the meeting moves to December, every Track 1 date moves by the same number of weeks. Direct mail lands the week before the new date, and the awareness ads keep running through the gap.
Track 2: Picklist for Alyson (digital and top of funnel)
Pick what fits the budget and creative capacity.
| Tier | Options | When |
|---|---|---|
| Base, at budget X | A. Account-based LinkedIn ads · D. Direct mail · E. Personalized microsite | Before the November meeting |
| Expanded, at 2X | Add B. Meta ads to uploaded contacts · G. Always-on persona LinkedIn ads | B before the meeting; G through the pilot |
| Optional | C. Geo-targeted ads around Target HQ | Two weeks before the meeting |
| After the meeting | F. Microsite retargeting · H. Guest insights piece · J. Email nurture · K. Intent monitoring | Mid-November onward |
Check first: Options B and C need a brand and compliance check with Zip before we run them.
Track 3: Phases through Jun 30, 2027
| When | Objective | Marketing action | Sales action | People | Milestones to earn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Now to mid-November | Win the exec meeting | Track 1 deliverables; awareness options A to D | Chad schedules the meeting; Peter/Vaneet send the intro; champions briefed | Tomczik, Goldberg, Wood, Carling | Economic buyer, champion, decision criteria |
| Mid-November to Jan 8 | Follow through | Microsite follow-up and retargeting; second direct mail touch | Settle how the 2024 opportunity is handled; integration call on the virtual card path with Target IT; record cleanup | Treasury, payments, IT | Technical lead, metrics, identify pain |
| Jan 11 to Feb 12 | Widen and keep momentum | Always-on persona ads; insights piece | Document the decision process and timeline; send the discovery summary | Add digital, loyalty, Circle Card team | Decision process, discovery summary |
| Feb 15 to Jun 30 | Move into Initial Scope; final readout | Value model; co-marketing plan (Roundel) | Scope confirmation, commercial offer | Decision group, finance, legal, procurement | Goal: Discovery complete by Jun 30, with Initial Scope as the stretch confirm with Chad |
Every phase ends with the next milestone meeting booked. Owners: marketing owner for marketing actions; Chad Johnson for sales actions. The program runs through Jun 30, 2027. January work assumes people are back from the second week (Jan 11).
7 · Signals and rules of engagement
Every signal gets an owner and a response time.
Agree these with Chad before launch. A signal with no named owner and response time won’t get acted on.
Provisional; we’ll confirm with Zip before launch.
| Signal (score points) ABM | Threshold | Who’s alerted | Sales action | Response time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inbound request or RFP (+8) | Any | Chad, marketing owner | Same-day reply; set the meeting | Same business day |
| Trigger event (+8): exec hire, replatforming, incumbent renewal window, earnings mention of conversion or AOV | Any. Mark Weinstein’s arrival (Sep 14, 2026) already counts; watch for the leaders he hires | Chad | Congratulate and request an intro meeting | 2 business days |
| Pricing, integration or merchant pages visited by a known contact (+4) | Any | Chad | Personal follow-up tied to the page visited | 1 business day |
| Repeat high-intent visits within 30 days (+3) | 2+ visits in 30 days | Chad | Email or call tied to the pages viewed | 2 business days |
| Ad, email or web engagement from a known contact (+3, capped) | 2+ touches in 7 days | Marketing owner | Seller-shared content to that contact | 3 business days |
| Third-party intent surge on BNPL or checkout topics (+2) | Top intent tier in Apollo | Marketing owner | Add persona ads to the surging team | 5 business days |
| Champion or key contact leaves (−8) | Any | Chad, Rita | Re-map the committee; direct mail to the replacement | Within 1 week |
| No next step for 21+ days (−5) or no two-way contact for 30+ days (−5) | Hits threshold | Chad | Reset the next step at the account review | Next weekly sync |
- Where alerts go. A shared Slack channel with Chad.
- Who monitors signals. Rita, weekly, with Chad.
- Data sources available today ABM. Salesforce and Clari (sales activity), Apollo (intent data; confirm setup), Pardot (email; access needed), Splash (webinars), Hive Perform (deal actions). Paid media and web identity resolution are still to be confirmed.
Watch-outs that reset the plan. These go to Chad and Rita as soon as they happen.
- The champion, economic buyer or technical lead leaves or is replaced: re-map the committee within a week
- Target pushes its own stated timeline: ask what changed and re-confirm the date
- A month passes with no new milestone and nothing booked: the account review resets the plan
8 · Measurement
How leadership judges the pilot by Jun 30, 2027.
Leading indicators show whether the plan is working months before it shows up as pipeline. With an 18 to 24 month cycle, this is how leadership judges the pilot by the end of the program on Jun 30, 2027. The pilot’s central question is whether the 10 pilot opportunities move faster and further than matched holdout accounts ABM.
Provisional; we’ll confirm with Zip before launch.
| KPI ABM | How it’s calculated | Target at Day 0 | Jun 30, 2027 goal | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Account priority score (engagement) | Coverage, momentum (credited for Hive milestones completed), engagement and intent, less negative signals | 40.0 (Warming) | 55 | Scoring model |
| Buying committee coverage | Engaged target personas ÷ desired target personas | 1 of 5 (payments only) | 3 of 5 | SFDC |
| New-role engagement | New titles engaged (economic buyer, procurement, technical evaluator) not previously active | 0 | 2 (economic buyer and technical lead) | SFDC |
| Named contacts engaged | Contacts with a two-way interaction | 5 in the last 45 days | 10 | SFDC |
| Meetings and field moments | Meetings and events created with committee members | Rita to confirm count | 3 (exec meeting plus 2 follow-ups) | SFDC, Splash |
| Deal Progress Index (progress) | Points for every verified milestone, out of 100 (section 1) | 3 of 25 milestones verified | Discovery complete | Milestone tracker |
| Account Velocity Score (pace) | How much the account moved in the last 30 days, rated Accelerating, Moving, Slow or Stalled | First read Nov 2026 | Moving or Accelerating each month | Milestone tracker |
| Lift vs. comparison group | Pilot DPI gain minus holdout DPI gain, with medians and account detail | Not compared. Target is held outside the control group on purpose: Zip has never launched a big box merchant, so there’s no fair match. | TBD | BI dashboard |
| Days in stage, stage conversion, pipeline value | Tracked for context | 465 days in Discovery | Out of Discovery | SFDC |
How the velocity score works ABM
Most pilot accounts will spend months in early Salesforce stages, so stage changes alone won’t show progress. The velocity score is built on Zip’s Hive rubric, the 22 actions the sales team already uses to judge deals.
- Every account gets two scores each month: a Deal Progress Index (how far it has come since we started, 0 to 100) and an Account Velocity Score (how much it moved in the last 30 days, rated Accelerating, Moving, Slow or Stalled)
- Three early milestones (two-way conversation, first meeting, opportunity open) let accounts with no activity yet still show movement
- A milestone counts once a dated email, call note, transcript or Salesforce activity backs it up, in any order
- Scores roll up at the account level, based on the most advanced opportunity
- In the Account Score, “stage advanced” becomes “Hive milestone completed,” so the two scores stay in sync
- AEs update a shared milestone tracker weekly, and we handle the scoring
- We run this for 60 days, then recalibrate with real data
- For Target. Chad updates the milestone tracker weekly with a date and evidence link for each milestone; we score it.
- Reporting rhythm. DPI and AVS monthly; buying committee coverage monthly; dashboard V2 shows both per account.
- Account Score change. The velocity framework takes precedence over the KPI deck. The Account Score’s momentum component now credits “Hive milestone completed” in place of “stage advanced,” so momentum shows up in both scores from the same evidence.
- Recalibration. After the first 60 days of scoring.
9 · Ownership, cadence, risks and asks
Who owns what, and what we need.
| Marketing owns ABM | Sales owns (Chad) ABM | Both own ABM |
|---|---|---|
| Buying committee reach and contacts engaged | Meetings and field moments created | Qualified lead definition and handoff points |
| Content and messaging delivered | Days in stage | What counts as an influenced opportunity |
| Audience built through always-on campaigns | Close date accuracy | Keeping the opportunity record current |
| Committee members active on the live deal | Win rate and deal size (executive view) |
Account plan: Rita. Measurement model: Rita and Mark. Campaigns and signal monitoring: owners
Cadence
- Weekly. Chad updates the milestone tracker with dates and evidence links.
- Weekly 30-minute sync with Chad. Signals since last review, milestones claimed and verified, next milestone meeting booked, blockers. Length and attendees
- Monthly. DPI and AVS for Target.
- Leadership readout. Monthly coverage and velocity report, plus a final readout vs. holdout by Jun 30, 2027.
Asks of sales leadership
- An executive sponsor (Peter/Vaneet) for the intro email and the November meeting; a weekly 30-minute sync with Chad and an agreed response time on signals
- Owner and deadline for the Salesforce data fixes in Appendix B
- Third ask, e.g., executive sponsor for exec-to-exec outreach in January
Risks
| Risk | Likelihood | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Circle Card cannibalization concern from Target Financial and Retail Services | TBD | Position Zip as incremental for guests who don’t qualify for or prefer not to use the card, backed by Zip’s Target guest data |
| Leadership turnover: a new chief marketing and guest experience officer (Sep 2026) and a departing chief commercial officer | TBD | Reach Mark Weinstein’s team while his priorities are forming; build relationships one level down (VPs in digital and loyalty) |
| Fraud: high fraud was one reason Target shut down Sezzle, so Target will want to see how Zip controls it | TBD | Bring Zip’s fraud controls and fraud-rate data into the exec deck and microsite MKTG |
| Sales capacity to act on signals | TBD | Agree response times with Chad up front (section 7) |
Appendix A · Open questions by owner
What we still need, and from whom.
Chad is new to the account and Anne Coffey had few contacts, so history and data questions go to Alyson and Zip’s teams. Each one comes off the list once the answer is in the plan.
For Alyson (marketing and data)
- What does Zip’s ~$230M TTV at Target cover, and can we use Zip’s Target guest data in the exec deck?
- What fraud controls and fraud-rate data can Zip show Target?
- Which proof points (GameStop and others) are approved for outreach?
- What budget and creative capacity is there for the Track 2 picks?
- What was the “Stripe GA Announcement” campaign, and is Zip now generally available on Stripe?
- Was the July 2026 content syndication the INFUSE program, and did any meetings come from it?
- What were the Aug 13 and Sep 24 sends to Target contacts, and did anyone reply?
For Chad (in flight)
- Exec meeting date: week of Nov 9 or Nov 16
- Keep or replace the 2024 opportunity
- Who sends the intro email, Peter or Vaneet
- Plaid report on Target employee usage (pending Zip legal review)
- March 2025 proposal details (Chad asking Anne Coffey)
For Zip sales or partnerships leadership
- When does Target’s Affirm agreement renew?
- What does “BNPL status: Primary Provider” mean on the opportunity?
Appendix B · The current opportunity
The current opportunity, for reference.
Salesforce data on the existing Target opportunity: the record, its history, recent activity, and what needs correcting before January.
Opportunity snapshot SFDC
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Opportunity | Target (Online) – United States. Sales record type, Enterprise tier, outbound load source |
| Owner | Chad Johnson; secondary rep Peter Maher |
| Stage | Discovery (stage 1 of 7), Active Pipeline. Forecast category Pipeline, 10% probability |
| Age / days in stage | 847 days old (created Jun 25, 2024) / 465 days since last stage change |
| Source | Experiential: MAG Annual 2024 FY25 |
| Close date / estimated launch | Jul 31, 2025 / Sep 30, 2025. Both have passed |
| Next step on record | “Re-evaluating Stripe as potential integration path. Decision likely May/June.” Last updated Apr 21, 2025 |
| Revenue model | Est. annual sales $107.7B; 2% share of checkout; annual TTV potential $2.15B (weighted $215.4M); NCR 4%; revenue in year $119.9M; total revenue net of rebates $159.8M |
| Commercial terms on file | 2.00% long-term rate plus $0.30 per transaction; order range $35 to $1,500; 60-day launch ramp |
| Solution scoped | Pay in 4, Pay in 8, 2nd chance widget, advanced approvals, pre-approvals, virtual checkout. Custom API platform; virtual checkout integration |
| Channel mix | Omnichannel: 20% online, 80% in store (the opportunity’s % Online and % Instore fields, entered by Zip, not reported by Target). AOV $101 |
| Partner | Stripe (partner referral) |
| Competitor | Affirm. BNPL status: “Primary Provider” Ask Zip sales leadership what this field means here |
| Contact roles | Emily Carling (Director, Payment Acceptance), Matthew Goldberg (VP and Assistant Treasurer), Winston Wood (Sr Manager, Payment Acceptance). All three tagged Decision Maker |
Deal timeline SFDC
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Sep 21, 2026 | Last record update, by the RingLead integration user (a system sync rather than a seller action) |
| Jul 8, 2026 | Owner changed from Peter Maher to Chad Johnson |
| Jul 2025 | Last stage change (465 days ago) |
| Apr 21, 2025 | Next step changed to “re-evaluating Stripe as potential integration path; decision likely May/June” |
| Mar 7, 2025 | Meeting held; Zip began building a formal proposal |
| Jun 25, 2024 | Opportunity created by Peter Maher after MAG 2024 |
Chad to add meetings, proposals and objections the record doesn’t capture
How Target contacts entered Salesforce SFDC
| Created | Source | Who came in |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | Pamela Kimball, Director, Competitive Intelligence and Consumer Insights. First insights contact | |
| Aug 11 to Sep 10, 2026 | Events | Joao Matos and Jon Bergh, Senior Product Managers, Payments. Payments product team engaging |
| Jul 2026 | Events, LinkedIn | Carrie Moreno (Sr PM, Payment Acceptance and POS) and two payment acceptance specialists. Depth in payment acceptance |
| Jun 10, 2026 | Sarah Travis, Lisa Roath, Keri Stelle, Rick Gomez, Cara Sylvester. First executive-level records; two have since changed roles or are leaving | |
| Apr 16, 2026 | Event | Ryan Allshouse, Senior Manager, Payment Acceptance |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Event, outbound | Kimberly Sutch (Sr Director, Financial Products), Rebecca Lobsinger (VP, Payments and Financial Operations). Highest-ranking payments relationship on file |
| Sep 13, 2024 | Event | Winston Wood, Alexandra Murphy (payment acceptance), Jason Hendrickson (Director, Product Management) |
| Jun 10, 2020 | Event | Perry Starr and Emily Carling, Directors, Payment Acceptance. Longest-standing contacts |
These dates show when people entered Salesforce, a proxy for engagement. Meetings and replies come from the activity history.
What the activity data shows SFDC
Salesforce’s Last Activity date counts emails, tasks and meetings, but not which way they went. Replies and meetings still need the activity detail before they count as two-way.
| When (2026) | Records | Who, and what it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 19–20 | 11 | All 10 content syndication contacts on Oct 19, plus Winston Wood on Oct 20. The Oct 19 batch looks like one send; Wood’s looks individual |
| Oct 15 | 1 | Emily Carling. Individual touch with an opportunity contact role |
| Oct 1–6 | 8 | Pamela Kimball, 6 operations records from a data vendor import, Erica Humiston (lead). Mostly outside the buying committee |
| Sep 23–24 | 14 | Payment acceptance and product team (Moreno, Matos, Allshouse, Murphy, Hendrickson), Lobsinger, plus Brian Cornell, Maureen Kelley (tarte.com), Alice Kilic, and the “Michael Arilotta” record that holds the CEO’s email. Was this a sequence, and should these records be cleaned up before January? |
| Aug 13 | 62 contacts, 6 leads | 58 data vendor records: 22 digital and marketing, 16 executive, 7 IT, including Vemana, Butz, Bauer, Sylvester and Roath. What was this send, and did anyone reply? |
| Jul 14 | 5 | Including Jim Lee and Thomas Lewis |
- Overall. 115 of 242 contacts and 17 of 589 leads have any logged activity. 36 contacts were touched in the last 45 days: 14 payments, 10 unassigned, 4 executive, 4 digital and marketing, 3 product, 1 IT.
- Executive gap. None of the 4 executive records touched in the last 45 days is a confirmed current Target executive (Cornell, Kelley at tarte.com, Kilic, and a data vendor “Executive GM”).
- Campaign tags. 91 Target records sit in a “Stripe GA Announcement” campaign. Ask Alyson what it announced; if Zip is now generally available on Stripe, that bears directly on the April 2025 integration question
What we need corrected before January SFDC
These affect who receives ads and outreach.
- The CEO record is out of date, and the current CEO’s email sits on a record under a different name.
- Several executive titles predate the February 2026 leadership changes.
- The CFO’s record sits in the Disqualified Leads queue; four other records carry a CFO title and look like data-provider mismatches.
- 15 contacts have non-Target email addresses.
- 20 people exist as both a contact and a lead; reports need to pull both.
- 270 records have no persona assigned.
- The opportunity’s close date, launch date and next step are out of date.
- Economic buyer and digital contacts should be added as contact roles once engaged.
- Records that received the Sep 24 send under outdated names should be corrected before the January campaign.
Sources
Where everything came from.
Internal sources: Target (Online) opportunity record and Target Contacts and Leads export (Salesforce, Oct 2026); Memory Blue × Zip SDR Playbook; ABM Pilot: Account Scoring, KPIs and Attribution (V2); Zip pipeline stage rubric (Hive); Account Velocity Score summary shared with Zip (Oct 2026); closed won/lost opportunity report, close dates 2025 to 2026 (Salesforce, Oct 19, 2026).
Public sources, as of Oct 20, 2026:
- Target 2026 growth strategy, Target, Mar 3, 2026
- Target announces executive leadership changes, Target, Feb 10, 2026
- Target’s CEO changes the C-suite, Fortune, Feb 10, 2026
- Prat Vemana leadership profile, Target
- Target adds buy now, pay later options with Affirm, Sezzle, Retail Dive, Oct 7, 2021
- Zip retail industry page, Zip
- GameStop testimonial, Zip, Sep 11, 2025
- Transform your core retail KPIs with BNPL, Zip, Mar 17, 2025
- Target names new marketing and guest experience chief, The Shelby Report, Sep 15, 2026